He carried out 900 flights as captain – without a valid licence. Now the 59-year-old pilot is being prosecuted for what ”sounds like something out of a movie script”, according to The New York Times.

The captain is the pilot who has ultimate responsibility for the flight, crew and passengers. Geoff Wall, 59, captained around 900 Air Canada flights between 2009 and 2025 before retiring last year.

However, Wall lacked a pilot's licence from the federal regulator Transport Canada, which is required to fly as a captain, according to Canadian authorities. Wall has been arrested and is accused of fraud and several other offences.

The investigation revealed that Wall's identification documents were ”forged” during his time as an Air Canada pilot, according to Chad Michell of the police. Wall was ”not qualified to be responsible for the safety of hundreds of unsuspecting Air Canada passengers,” according to authorities.

"It's like a doctor licensed to practise general medicine performing brain surgery in their surgery," says Nick Milinovich from the police.

”Take it very seriously”

In a statement, Air Canada claimed that passengers” safety was ”not jeopardised” by Wall's actions as he had ”demonstrated a high level of skill in safely operating large aircraft".

”Air Canada takes this matter very seriously,” the airline's statement reads.

John Gradek, a lecturer in air traffic control at McGill University, suggested that both Transport Canada and Air Canada should be held accountable for a lack of routine checks, which allowed Wall to fly despite not having the correct license.

"He was an excellent pilot. That doesn't mean he had the right to fly," Gradek says.

Source: Expressen.se